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WHO study highlights need for hand hygiene in healthcare system

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Maintaining hygiene is among the top priorities in the healthcare system. The WorldHealth Organization carried a new study on hand hygiene and found that there is room for improvement.

Approximately 80 percent of chief executive officers, 70 percent of medical directors and 86 percent of directors of nursing have clearly defined hand hygiene as a priority,

For understanding the correct position of hand hygiene in the healthcare system, the WHO surveyed 129 healthcare facilities and found some interesting facts about it.

The survey says, about 77 percent of organizations said that they were using alcohol-based hand sanitizer for maintaining hand hygiene. About 83 percent of the surveyed healthcare facilities said that they conducted mandatory, annual hand-hygiene training. Almost 60 percent of those hospitals have a dedicated hand-hygiene team. And finally, nearly 40 percent of these hospitals said that they have designated hand- hygiene campaigns.

More than 50 percent of the surveyed systems said that they share local innovations in hand hygiene, and approximately 53 percent have a hand-hygiene training budget.

Co-lead author Laurie Conway, R.N., a student at Columbia Nursing, said, “The tone for compliance with infection control guidelines is set at the highest levels of management, and our study also found that executives aren’t always doing all that they can to send a clear message that preventing infections is a priority.”